Roll of Honor
Incident
On the evening of 9th January 1872, PC Phillips and a colleague were walking back from Fishponds to Shirehampton police station, along the Bristol Port and Pier railway line. About 6:00pm, after calling at Westbury police station, the two officers recommenced their journey but George stopped near Combe Dingle while his colleague continued walking, reaching Shirehampton about 7:30pm.
When PC Phillips had failed to return three hours later, his colleague set out to search for him but by 3:00am had not managed to locate him.
Shortly after 5:00am, nine-and-a-half hours after the officer was last seen, three men found George with severe head injuries, lying in a ditch beside the railway track and took him to Sea Mills railway station.
It appears that after leaving his colleague PC Phillips had decided to take a short cut home but, on realising the 7:30pm train was due, had hurried back to board it but caught his foot on a signal wire and stumbled on to the track where, unconscious, he was later struck by the train.
He died twenty-four hours after being found.
George had served in the Constabulary for a little over twelve months.
In Our Keeping
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BO-GB-GLC-AE4A91F4- Stewardship
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- Added to badge.nw
- April 8, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
154 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Police Constable Phillips served with the Gloucestershire Constabulary.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Constable George Phillips is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In ENG, 1,349 of 2,827 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 47.7% of this state's fallen. That is 16.7 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Gloucestershire Constabulary, 8 of 18 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 44.4% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. George Phillips's cause is highlighted.
How George Phillips Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. George Phillips is highlighted in Jan.
Others Who Wore This Badge
17 officers from Gloucestershire Constabulary are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
